Hunsberger Hire Forges New Direction for Nassau County Cooperative Extension─Fmr. Univ. of Maryland Professor Joins Jericho Staff After L.I. Vegetable Research
Summary
Hunsberger noted “Nassau County’s population has a proud agricultural past, but today the county’s needs are much more about gaining access to good nutrition, known as food security, and educational programming opportunities about topics such as gardening, landscaping and sustainability, empowering the people of Nassau County to better care for themselves and their families in the long run.” Hunsberger is a former president of the Northeast American Society of Horticultural Scientists (NEASHS) who received a Master’s degree in plant and soil sciences from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), and Bachelor’s degrees in Earth Science from SUNY (Brockport) and History from The College of Wooster.Ithaca, NY-based Cornell State Extension Specialist, Peter T. Landre, indicated we are “impressed and delighted to have Laura onboard as the Executive Director for Nassau County.” Outgoing Interim Executive Director Deborah Colfer acknowledged recently that Nassau County CCE has entered a “new period of growth,” and Hunsberger announced initial plans to expand CCE events and programming broadly, as well as enhance volunteerism opportunities through planned partnerships with local schools.Hunsberger joined Cornell in 2010 as a plant pathology research support specialist, following almost a decade of extension leadership on Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore, an area well known for grain and poultry production.Hunsberger noted “Nassau County’s population has a proud agricultural past, but today the county’s needs are much more about gaining access to good nutrition, known as food security, and educational programming opportunities about topics such as gardening, landscaping and sustainability, empowering the people of Nassau County to better care for themselves and their families in the long run.”Hunsberger is a former president of the Northeast American Society of Horticultural Scientists (NEASHS) who received a Master’s degree in plant and soil sciences from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), and Bachelor’s degrees in Earth Science from SUNY (Brockport) and History from The College of Wooster.Ithaca, NY-based Cornell State Extension Specialist, Peter T. Landre, indicated we are “impressed and delighted to have Laura onboard as the Executive Director for Nassau County.”Outgoing Interim Executive Director Deborah Colfer acknowledged recently that Nassau County CCE has entered a “new period of growth,” and Hunsberger announced initial plans to expand CCE events and programming broadly, as well as enhance volunteerism opportunities through planned partnerships with local schools.